LIGHT RAILWAYS FOR NEW SOUTH WALES. ii 
per cent. of that of an Englishman. The northern Italians differ 
widely from the southerns in this respect. In fact high wages 
and cheap railways are antagonistic elements. 
There is no doubt that safe railways can be made cheaper than 
the minimum here set forth, even in this country, but it will be 
with the disadvantages of being insufficient to carry the present 
carriage and waggon stock, without very heavy charges for main- 
tenance ; or, by constructing with inferior material, with the same 
result in more frequent renewals. Policy might possibly shew 
that a more important diminution of capital expenditure and 
interest might be obtained by this proceeding, but it is one that 
should be entered on with full knowledge of its results. 
A paper on light railways can hardly conclude without alluding 
to the proposals which have been made to add to the drawback of 
break of gauge already experienced by Australian intercolonial 
lines, by introducing a gauge smaller than the standard one for 
future branch lines of this colony. This paper embodies the 
results of experience on nearly all gauges, and expresses no 
preference for any one of them; each has its appropriate function to 
which it is applied, but it desires to express a strong opinion against 
mixing them, in one country or colony. A long and fruitless dis- 
cussion took place, a few years ago, at the Institution of Civil 
Engineers on the relative merits of the two Indian gauges, after 
several years’ experience of both ; but there need be no hesitation 
in saying that, notwithstanding the number of distinguished 
authorities who took part in it, there was absolutely no result 
of the slightest good to anybody, from it. 
They were comparing two essentially different things. The 
broad gauge lines were carrying main line traffic, were bridged 
across wide rivers for such essential connection with capital towns, 
etc., as their conditions demanded, and they had an average age 
of seventeen and a-half years, implying many renewals of way and 
stock. The narrow gauge lines were chiefly branches, most of 
which would not have been made at all, if large rivers or other 
engineering difficulties had to be met, and they were' only five 
